my family the church

I wonder what would happen if I treated my family like a congregation?


I wonder what would happen if I treated my family like a congregation?

Some of my recent thoughts on measuring growth: “We need new ways of measuring church success. In a large church, Sunday morning attendance indicates an ability to attract people. We give them excellent music and dynamic preaching. And Christians come. Then, when we measure our effectiveness we ask, ‘are people coming to church?’ We rarely ask, ‘are those…
Bad news. My Christian Worship through the Centuries class was supposed to spend Friday morning at Christ the Saviour Antiochian Orthodox church in Waterloo. The priest was going to spend some time filling us in about the liturgy and worship practices of the ancient Eastern church. Unfortunately, the he landed some last minute hockey tickets…
I’m excited. Tonight I head back to the classroom. I’ve reduced my course load from the usual (2 courses per semester) to one. I lightened my teaching load so I could take on the interim lead role at HMC. I’ve had a lot of fun this summer but I’m eager to get back to having…

Co-Vocational, Multi-Vocational, and Bi-Vocational ministry What’s the difference between bi-vocational and co-vocational ministry? It’s a frequently asked question and in some ways the answer is simple. In other ways, it’s more nuanced. The simple answer: The terms all point to the same reality. I see them all defining the work of a paid or unpaid…

Currently, I’ve got a couple of Eugene Peterson books on my reading list. The other day, while reading, The Contemplative Pastor: Returning to the art of spiritual direction, I was convicted. He writes: “But the word busy is the symptom not of commitment but of betrayal. It is not devotion but defection. The adjective busy set as…

Strengths. We’ve all got ’em but few of us spend much time honing them. I suspect most of us spend our lives trying to achieve balance. I’ve committed my life to doing the opposite. I was reminded of this valuable insight from a sermon that Rick (HMC discipleship pastor) preached on Sunday. Why do we…